Connector For Process Mining And Other Tools

Abstract

Documents and other process area events in an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system are extracted according to a knowledge table. The extracted events are stitched together in a timeline order, placed in a transport container (or otherwise transmitted), and input to, for example, a process mining or process intelligence tool. The tool utilizes any of AI, Machine learning, or other techniques to evaluate processes and/or documents represented by the extracted events, and triggering alerts or messages based on the evaluation. The tool may be a task mining tool and/or provide information or suggestions for improving the document or process represented by the document(s) and may prepare and display (or provide for display) a visual model of the evaluated process or document and may highlight anomalies therein.

1 . A method comprising:
 determining a plurality of records from a plurality of source tables and/or views in a source system wherein each record comprises at least one instance of a document or process;   determining a timestamp associated with each record of the plurality of records;   stitching the records together in a timeline of records according to the timestamps; and   entering the stitched records into a process mining or intelligence tool for evaluation of efficiency or outcomes represented by the stitched records.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of records represent a process thread of an account receivable, accounts payable, source to pay, order to cash, plan to produce, or any other process area in an SAP system. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the stitched records comprise a .CSV file formatted for an ABBYY process mining or process intelligence tool. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the stitched records were derived from a combination of records found in tables related or connected to a document or process including at least one of sales orders, deliveries, purchase orders, purchase requisitions, invoices, planned orders, production orders, and document change headers. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , further comprising at least one table specific to a document or process type to be evaluated and at least one table specific to a customer implementation of the document or process type. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 , further comprising the step of identifying the customer implementation specific table and at least one record contained therein for use in the determining and stitching steps. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the process intelligence tool provides a visual model of the document or process. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 , wherein the visual model comprises a highlight of a variation in an automatically created stitched timeline compared to averages of other instances of a same document or process. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the documents are from SAP and the stitching comprises placing the documents together in timestamp order for a particular timeline identifier. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the process intelligence tool comprises ABBYY Timeline. 
     
     
         11 .- 13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . A connector, comprising:
 a graphical user interface including selectable fields for information regarding customized fields and/or tables for a document or process in a source system;   an extractor configured to automatically extract baseline information and information contained in the customized fields and/or tables, along with timeline information for the information extracted;   a stitching device that places the extracted information in a transport container according to the timeline information; and   a transport mechanism configured to output the transport container to a tool.   
     
     
         15 . The connector according to  claim 14 , wherein the tool is a process mining or process intelligence tool. 
     
     
         16 . The connector according to  claim 14 , wherein the user interface includes a document identifier and indicia specifying a preferred output. 
     
     
         17 . The connector according to  claim 14 , wherein the extracted information according to timeline information comprises an ordered sequence of events as they occurred for the document or process. 
     
     
         18 . The connector according to  claim 14 , wherein the document or process relates to a digital worker. 
     
     
         19 . The connector according to  claim 14 , wherein the document or process relates to Robotic Process Automation (RPA). 
     
     
         20 . The connector according to  claim 14 , wherein the process intelligence tool is configured to evaluate the timeline and produce at least one of a visual model, process improvement, intelligence improvement, robotics, ROI calculation, and alert relative to the document or process.